Mahler’s Fifth

Mahler’s Fifth

Mahler called his Fifth Symphony a “foaming, roaring, raging sea of sound.” It begins simply, with a lone trumpet fanfare, but quickly explodes into one of music’s most passionate and thrilling orchestral works. The tender Adagietto movement is said to be the composer’s personal love letter to his wife, written in their first year of marriage. Today, it is Mahler’s most famous music — Leonard Bernstein led a heart-wrenching performance at Robert F. Kennedy’s funeral.